SPS Tank Swap

[gatorbait01]

Looking for opinions on swapping out my tank. Current tank is a full sps tank and I want to upgrade the a larger tank that will be in the same spot. My tank is doing fairly well and want to minimize any stress. Going from a reefer 250 to a 425xl. My thoughts are going with #1..although it would be nice to get the new tank in its spot early to get it settled and leveled out before all the weight is in there. What do u think?

1. Setup the new tank next to it and let it cycle. Put some sort of sliders underneath (it's on a smooth floor). Once I decide to move, transfer the livestock. Tear down the old tank then drain half the new tank and slide it into the same spot and refill.

2. Setup some sort of temp tank..like a large vat. Throw the skimmer in there along with power heads and lights and leave it there until I get the other tank torn down and the new one up and cycled.

3. Do a swap all in one day. Move everything to a temp tank. Tear down and setup the new one.

 

[Thor2j]

No need to let it cycle. If you are starting the new tank from scratch lps won't survive. Best bet is to put a bag of bioballs in your sump for 30 days. Then just transfer everything over and as much water as possible. If sand isn't to bad I'd take most of that too.

Use lots of large bins and buckets. Heaters and powerheads as well.

 

[gatorbait01]

Anyone else just swap it out in one day? Even though I use all the same water, what's the risk I take the old substrate and it spikes my nutient levels since it will be all stirred up. I don't have a deep bed, but maybe I can vacuum it out fairly aggressively for a few water changes prior to the swap out. Knew a guy locally who did a local move locally who had a very high end sps tank and swapped it out in one day and he said 3wks after his move his tank did a cycle and he lost most of his sps.

 

[jda]

Get frags or mini colonies to your local friends as backups. I would do this in any case. ...or set up like a 40g breeder for this purpose.

See if you can empty the current tank enough to move/slide it to another spot. Acros can be out of water for a while before they get too mad, but work fast. With enough muscle, this should be doable.

Set up the new tank in the correct location. Move slow and steady over about 4-6 months - I take this long and don't lose anything.

 

[ryshark]

Anyone else just swap it out in one day? Even though I use all the same water, what's the risk I take the old substrate and it spikes my nutient levels since it will be all stirred up. I don't have a deep bed, but maybe I can vacuum it out fairly aggressively for a few water changes prior to the swap out. Knew a guy locally who did a local move locally who had a very high end sps tank and swapped it out in one day and he said 3wks after his move his tank did a cycle and he lost most of his sps.

I have done it all in one day, twice, both times successfully. However, I did NOT use the same sand. It is a lot of work and a long day, but my vote is #3.

In regards to the mini cycle and losing sps, I didn't have that happen to me. Maybe start dosing some nitrifying bacteria like Fritz turbo start as some added protection?? Just a thought.

Really nice tank by the way, nice job!

 

[Sarlindescent]

While same day can be done, tank to tank, I generally don't recommend it if a temp tank is an available option, or if the current tank can be moved as is. As others mentioned, banking corals is always a good idea, moving or not. When I have done a same day, my primary concern was the health of the coral/fish. If you can do a transfer over days or a week, this will allow you time to make sure your cable management/maintenance strategy is implemented before moving livestock. Its much easier routing cables when you can spend an hour or few with the tank moved out from the wall. likewise, there are a few other tasks that having access to all sides of the tank is much easier.

 

[Cell]

I'd choose 1 if you have the room. Least stressful on you and the livestock.

 

[Sabellafella]

Anyone else just swap it out in one day? Even though I use all the same water, what's the risk I take the old substrate and it spikes my nutient levels since it will be all stirred up. I don't have a deep bed, but maybe I can vacuum it out fairly aggressively for a few water changes prior to the swap out. Knew a guy locally who did a local move locally who had a very high end sps tank and swapped it out in one day and he said 3wks after his move his tank did a cycle and he lost most of his sps.

I'm actually in this predicament myself, but nearly every single transfer I've done, was a done in a single day without litterally any issues. The lps always tend to look alot better.

It's not simple but a simple plan,

Remove all possible corals to a vat, preferably a large one because your going higher with the gallons, so youd want as much mixed water as you can. Which you mixed prior with new and tank saltwater. Heater flow. Drain down to like 1/4 shake all the rocks out to remove as much detritus as you can. The real issue here is overloading the new system with ammonia/organics. It will kinda taint the process if you don't.

Discard everything else except the critters that are left.

You can save some sand, do not use the old sand. As you can disturb different layers of bacteria, some which require oxygen, some that create hydrogen sulfide. Mostly I'm sure everyone knows. The different tiers of bacteria by depth. Will mostly die off and crash your new system. Best to just start with rinsed live sand. If your feeling spicy, add a couple of cups of your old sand to it.

Scape new system when it's in place, get everything in rock fish controllers ect. All while keeping water flow and temperature somewhat stable. Also need all the extra water


I've never not a single time in my time of reefkeeping, friends tanks, payed installs, my own, have I never had a single problem doing it this way.

The most I've ran into was like instability issues in the beginning like ph swings, alkalinity drops because of the whole nitrogen process using carbonate, and creating acids (which lower the ph) but they are remedied properly if you do it right. Otherwise the sps will suffer.

 

[ryshark]

As I mentioned above, I’ve done same day a couple times. For the transfer of livestock, once I used a huge plastic tub while I setup the new upgraded tank and another time when I moved the entire tank to a different house, I found a big tomato bin and transferred all the livestock into that.

 

[ryshark]

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[gatorbait01]

Thanks foe all the feedback. My mindset on this transfer is "minimizing my max regret" and feel drawn to the conservative approach by setting up the tank right next to it for a month to give me time cycle and get all the kinks out of the plumbing. It really depends on how easily I think it will slide with maybe a 1/3'rd amt of water in it. I get the tank tomorrow and will evaluate it. I don't have a deep sand bed now and really want to take the sand due to all the spaghetti worms and dusters I have in it now. Figure every week I will do a water change in my old tank and put that water into the new one and take some sand each time as well. Doing the bio ball seeding in my old tank now. I think I would be devastated if I rushed it and lost my corals that I spent so much time growing out.